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Dallas Named America's Best City For Jobs For Second Year In A Row By Forbes

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When it comes to landing a job, one report declares Dallas as the place to be.

For the second year in a row, Forbes has named Dallas the best city for jobs in America.

In the ranking, Forbes includes Plano and Irving as part of the Dallas metro area. Dallas ranked first among the 71 largest metro areas in the country. 

Austin ranked second. Nashville was No. 3. 

According to urban studies professor Joel Kotkin and public policy professor Michael Shires: “After years of domination by the tech-driven San Francisco area, Dallas-Plano-Irving has secured the No. 1 spot for the last two years by dint of consistency: 2.8 percent job growth last year, 19.6 percent since 2012 and an impressive 25.6 percent since 2006. Its 2.02 percent population growth last year is the highest rate of any of the 10 largest metro areas while net in-migration trails only retirement haven Phoenix among the big cities.”

Kotkin and Shires attribute Dallas’ success to several things, including its diverse sources of job growth.

“Dallas has logged double-digit percentage job growth since 2012 in almost every major economic sector we measured, from information to construction, energy, finance, and professional and business services," the report says.

Also, several large companies have moved to the region in recent years, including Toyota’s North American headquarters in Plano, which opened last July.

More feathers in Dallas’ cap: It’s affordable (for now) to live here; the city has low taxes; and there are plenty of cultural amenities, according to the report. While it's cheaper to buy a house in Texas than other parts of the country, housing prices have creeped up as more people flood into the state. 

Besides Dallas and Austin, the San Antonio metro area also ranked in the top 15 -- at No. 13.

The ranking is based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics unadjusted employment data reported from November 2006 to January 2018. Here’s the full methodology

Here’s the top 15 best metros for jobs

  1. Dallas
  2. Austin
  3. Nashville
  4. San Jose, California
  5. Charlotte, North Carolina
  6. Orlando
  7. Raleigh, North Carolina
  8. San Francisco
  9. Seattle
  10. Riverside, California
  11. Salt Lake City
  12. Denver
  13. San Antonio
  14.  Jacksonville, Florida
  15. Portland, Oregon